Hogwarts Dream Team pilot episode
by painless
Summary: The backstory for a Hogwarts television show. Children are being trained as Hit Wizards for the final battle. May be H/D later on.
1. Default Chapter

Harry stepped out onto platform nine and three quarters, his breath making a fog in the gloom. The Express had never left at such an antisocial hour before, preferring to mask the schoolchildren in the usual bustle of Kings Cross. Now, however, the extra security surrounding the school seemed to include opening the station in the small hours and bewitching muggle porters to shuffle around in a Zombified state, mimicking normal operations. It crossed Harry's mind that there must have been a shift to emphasising anti-wizard protections recently. Usually interference with the non-wizarding world was kept to a minimum. One of the new anti-dark measures no doubt, and not a comforting thought. The complete silence and darkness of the place certainly added a creep factor to proceedings.  
  
But where was everyone? The owl with his joining instructions had specified an extremely early joining time and although his magical encryption slug had revealed the words on the parchment itself (and left a trail of slime on the Dursleys' carpet which had taken many hours to clean up), Harry worried for the first time that he might have been tricked in some way. After all, it was just two years ago that Voldemort had tried to kill Harry by enchanting a Portkey to pull him away from the safety of Hogwarts. Harry had survived, but his friend and sometime rival Cedric had been killed by the Dark Leach at a younger age that Harry was now.  
  
But he couldn't just stand here and reminisce. If this was a trap, he had to hide, and if it was a new security measure then he had to get to the right place. Harry couldn't just stand around on the platform waiting for the Grand Negativity to take a pot-shot. The brief image of Vodemort as a Ferenghi made him snicker. He palmed his wand to be on the safe side and walked along the platform to the nearest door, seemingly an entrance to some kind of daytime café. There was absolutely no sign of a train and peering through the windows he couldn't make out any people in the grey and unwelcoming interior. Still, it couldn't be any colder than out on the platform and he would feel better if he were less exposed.  
  
When he opened the door, he had a shock. There was a warm crackling fire with many comfortable armchairs gathered around it. An old witch with her hair in and ice white bun was handing out Crackle Cakes and tea. He saw his friends Ron and Herminone nearest the fire toasting their cakes, which were crackling out streams of marshmallow in the most delightful way. There were a few dozen others from school propping up a Bubbling Chocolate bar and swapping summer stories.  
  
When she looked over at him standing next to the open door, Herminone let out a yelp and ran over. Harry smiled when he saw his friend, and held out his arms, but Herminone just pushed past him and slammed the door shut with a bang.  
  
"Harry, you idiot!", she admonished. "Didn't you know that an Inclusion Totalis spell only works when the door is shut? Or didn't you notice that we were invisible in here?"  
  
He flushed, realising that she was entirely justified.  
  
"I'm sorry Hermione. You know I'm so removed from the wizarding world during the summers that I forget quiet how concerned people are about his Evil Self. I'll be more careful from now on, really."  
  
"Well, mind that you are. Oh Harry", she went on, "How worried I've been about you, after those horrid letters Voldemort sent you last year." With that she flung her arms around him. Harry hugged her back and finally felt himself unwind inside. He was back with people who loved him and he felt happy and safe. Catching sight of Ron over Hermione's shoulder, they exchanged a half smile, acknowledging her rather demonstrative affection.  
  
"Just going to the bar", said Ron when Harry emerged. "Want anything?"  
  
"Bournville Lava, thanks", said Harry. Herminone wrinkled her nose at this.  
  
"I don't know how you can like your chocolate so bitter, Harry. I'll have a double Fudge Cream Geyser, Ron."  
  
"What, another gooey Granger? Sure, but don't blame me when you get sick later."  
  
Harry and Hermione made their way over to the fireplace and sat on the floor near the hearth. The place was getting more crowded now, parents Apparating directly into the building with their children. The legal age for Apparation had been lowered to eleven recently, under adult supervision only. Harry had learned how during his fifth year but without magical parents he had not been allowed to use his ability over the holidays.  
  
The room may have been crowded, but there didn't seem to be nearly as many people as Harry was expecting.  
  
"Hermione", he said in a low voice, "Where is everyone? I see Fred, George, most of the House Quidditch teams and Prefects, but it looks like this is only a cross section of the upper years. And where is the train?"  
  
"I don't know", she answered. "There are a few strange things, now you come to mention it. The most notable being Malfoy, separated from his fat shadows."  
  
Harry looked where she pointed and caught sight of the moody blonde standing near a window, talking to a Slytherin fifth year, Clare Avery. He seemed to be without his normal entourage, and a quick glance around the room told Harry that very few from his house were here. Curiouser and curiouser, he thought.  
  
"Maybe they are sending us to school in shifts," he said. "That would make sense, not leaving everyone on the same transport- whatever that turns out to be. Less of a target for Dark terrorists."  
  
"But then why not send a cross section?" she asked. "Look at us Harry- the guys here are the ones that stand out in a crowd. The students who do best in the tests and the best fliers. Or am I missing any selection criteria?"  
  
"You might be on to something." Harry scanned the crowd, cataloguing the faces. It turned out that he knew them all, at least by sight. "Dumbledore must be behind this- maybe he wanted to round up anyone with influence and talk to them to set the tone for the new school year. You know- a pep rally of some kind."  
  
"Everyone with influence- that's it! That's exactly the common denominator." Hermione's face lost her smile. "Harry, we're sitting ducks here. The backbone of the school- imagine if someone released some killer bug or something"-  
  
"Well deducted Miss Granger!", came a voice from just behind them. Harry and Hermione jumped and turned round to be arrested by Dumbledore's compelling twinkle. He had Apparated into a squashy pink armchair just behind them. An armchair which Harry was certain had been occupied by two Ravenclaws making out just seconds before. "I would give points to Griffindor for such insights but unfortunately these things will be of little import this year. However, you are happily mistaken and there are in fact no agents of Voldemort abroad tonight."  
  
With that he stood up and clapped his hands for everyone's attention.  
  
A small dais rose from the corner of the room, startling Fred, who had been standing there demonstrating a Screaming Yoyo to Ginny. He soon cleared a space when he saw who was coming towards them. Dumbledore climbed the platform and faced the crowd of children and adults who gathered expectantly before him. 


	2. The Decision

"May I start by saying how happy I am to see you all here together", Dumbledore began, extending a broad smile which softened his lined face. "You represent many good wizarding families and promising new hope for the future of our kind."  
"Children and parents alike, you are looking forward to starting what for some of you would be your final year or years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Perhaps some with more reluctance than others, but I feel sure you would have muddled through it all the same. The path to adulthood is prone to stumbles and upsets after all."  
  
"However, today I am asking you to step off that path for a time and take another fork in the road. You have been selected as potential warriors for the cause. Notice I say selected"- this last was said over some mumblings of alarm from the adults present- "and not conscripted or even coerced."  
  
Then his tone became more sombre and the lines more pronounced. A shadow seemed to move across his face as he began once more.  
  
"I am asking those who have the courage and heart to lend themselves to our continuing fight to step forward now. This is not a thing which I ask of children, but of individuals who are willing to make a difference to our world. It is no secret that certain Dark forces continue to advance into our realm, bringing with them confusion, despair and, in some cases bereavement."  
  
At this Harry bowed his head, remembering those who were already lost. Yet at the same time he asked himself what help he could possibly be. Or indeed any of them against the evil he had been witness to. Just two years ago he had stood at the mercy of the Not-Yet-Resident-Evil and watched its stunted body drink his own blood for regeneration. Since then, every year less children seemed to come back to Hogwarts, their families seemingly vanished, or in some cases (he suspected) turned to the other side. His private fear since walking into the room was than they were the only ones left. The only pocket of clean magic users in increasingly tainted stock.  
  
After a moment's silence Dumbledore was beckoning another to join him. The white haired witch that Harry had previously spotted with a tray of tea and cakes made her way slowly to his side. She smoothed her pristine bun and faced them all with a face which was serene and somehow very beautiful, despite her old age. She had a kind of radiance which captured the attention of all present.  
  
"My colleague Arabella will speak to you presently of the course of action we are suggesting", said Dumbledore. "For now, I will ask all who do not feel they can give more than they already have to leave. Parents who have not yet done so should also make their goodbyes. And remember, we will not force any of you to make this commitment."  
  
"Now hold hard, Dumbledore!", came a voice from the edge of the crowd. Harry craned his neck to see the speaker- a round faced red cheeked man with his arm protectively around a slight boy next to him. Harry recognised Ernie Beeswax, the Hufflepuff seeker, just fourteen and a little embarrassed-looking at his father's outburst. "My boy is too young to fight in any army of yours. You should be ashamed of yourselves suggesting that children be fodder for one of your crackpot schemes."  
  
There were, indeed, many angry looks on the faces of the assembled adults. Harry signed, remembering the war of words against Dumbledore in the magical press recently. He had been accused of scaremongering and jumping at shadows, inventing problems where none existed.  
  
"Errol, please do not be alarmed. I am not trying to kidnap your son. I am simply offering these young adults a chance to be all they can be. To make a difference, however small, at a time when the scales are finely balanced."  
  
Dumbledore spread his hands, opening them in a sign of honesty and entreaty. Harry did not think he had ever seen the old man seem so earnest and sincere, not holding back behind wit and bluster. At that moment he knew he could trust his mentor to do what was right. He was prepared to step forward when the time came. A glance at Ron and his brothers told him that he would not be alone.  
  
Ernie, apparently felt the same way. He pushed away from his father and then through the crowd, coming to a stop at the foot of the dais.  
  
"I will fight. If it will help, you have my loyalty to the end." A hushed silence greeted the words. Harry was impressed- it was a big speech for Ernie, whom he remembered stuttering asking for his autograph in the first year. Perhaps I will look up to him a little now, thought Harry to himself, recognising how hard it must have been to disagree with his father in public like that. Indeed, Errol Beeswax had gone a little purple with rage and his mouth was popping open like a goldfish.  
  
"Thank you for your words young man", said Dumbledore gently. "However, I cannot take you without your father's consent as you are not yet sixteen. Perhaps we will meet again under other circumstances."  
  
"For now perhaps we should draw a line under these proceedings. I ask all those who can stand with us now to step forward and those who feel unable to take their leave." He made a complex sign with his fingers and a blue line appeared on the floor, bisecting the room. "At the end of a five minute period I would like all students who are interested in taking this further to be on this side of the line. All others, and all adults should take their leave. I am sorry for the short notice but unfortunately time grows short and these premises may not remain secure."  
  
At this the small platform shrank back into the ground and Dumbledore stepped forward. Harry saw him shake Ernie's hand as around them pandemonium broke lose. Mrs Wesley was like a dervish, running between her children and hugging them as they pulled their possessions over the line in an immediate show of support. Hermione was in tears, trying to explain to her parents that they should not worry and that she was going to be absolutely safe. But how could they possibly understand? Arthur Wesley joined Dumbledore as he became surrounded by parents shooting questions at him left right and centre. Where were their children going? How could he have any right to take them away? And for how long? Desperate mothers pleaded with their older sons and daughters not to go as they grimly hauled cases across the floor. He saw several Disapparate suddenly, taking struggling offspring with them.  
  
In the middle of it all, Harry felt a little lost. The Dursleys, he knew, would be only too happy to see him go. They had dropped more than a few hints over the past couple of years that he might want to flee the nest at some point, suggesting that he get a job or leave school. Uncle Vernon had taken to leaving stacks of Jobseeker forms and property pages outside Harry s door for him to trip over in the mornings.  
  
'To make a difference, however small', he mused. Well, he knew where his loyalties lay. Harry stood firmly with Ron and Hermione, and indeed, Dumbledore. 


End file.
